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French and Francophone Studies announces spring 2014 film series

January 16, 2014

French and Francophone Studies announces spring 2014 film series

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State French and Francophone Studies Film Series will continue its free showings of 2014 spring semester series on selected Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. in 113 Carnegie on Penn State’s University Park campus. Free to the public, all films are subtitled in English.

The spring semester schedule is:

--Jan. 22: "Amour" by Michael Haneke

Haneke’s compassionate film centers on Georges and Anne, retired music teachers who struggle to maintain their dignity in the face of the unremitting cruelties of aging — Haneke brilliantly shows that the greatest crucible of life’s final chapter is figuring out how to best honor the past.

--Feb. 26: "Monsieur Lazhar" by Philippe Falardeau

“A classroom is a place of friendship, of work, of courtesy, a place of life,” said the new teacher to his sixth-grade students, who are still reeling from a beloved teacher’s very public suicide. Based on a one-person play by Evelyne de la Chenelière, the film explores the intricate process by which Monsieur Lazhar earns the respect and trust of his pupils.

--March 26: "Holy Motors" by Leos Carax

Both a lamentation for and celebration of cinema, the film introduces the main character, Monsieur Oscar (Denis Lavant, Carax’s frequent collaborator), a professional chameleon who inhabits nearly 12 different personas over the course of a single day. Oscar continually reinvents himself, exhausting work that he still pursues for “the beauty of the act.”

The series is sponsored by the College of the Liberal Arts, the Institute for the Arts & Humanities, the Jewish Studies Program, the Center for Language Acquisition and the Alliance Française de State College et de University Park.